


Spectrum of Emotions

by EsperKitty



Series: Light Catcher [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Also there's more characters but I feel tagging them would be spoilers, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Gen, I think there's shipping but I'm not sure if I can call it that, Mental Breakdown
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-04-27 22:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14434989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsperKitty/pseuds/EsperKitty
Summary: Continuing Ryou's journey as he juggles the emotional spectrum... with varying success.





	1. Chapter 1

Ryou flipped the blue ring as he would a coin. It had been two weeks since he left for the second time and was already bored. The time it would take to reach anyone he knew was far too long and any attempts to break his limits would either result in a repeat of the incident that landed him on that ship in the first place, or actual death. Not that Death wasn't unpleasant, she was quite nice and warm, but he had a job to do and needed all the energy he could muster. He did come close to meeting her again when he wormholed to a safe place he knew would hide him, and it hurt.

Speaking of energy, Razer was surprised that Ryou didn't have a red power battery and yet could recharge his ring without one. At the same time, Ryou was surprised that Razer's red light didn't burn everything it touched. The conclusion that everyone reached was that both Ryou and Razer had unconsciously affected how their rings acted. Wordlessly, they also concluded that at the rate he was going, all of that energy Ryou had would run out soon.

The emotional spectrum wasn't a toy, that was the first thing Stewart had told him, even if he was specifically talking about the green light. It is a powerful weapon that should be respected and carefully handled, should he get too in over his head and do something reckless, something Ryou seemed to learn the hard way many years later.

During that time under Stewart's guidance, monitored by Batman and Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner had told him that maybe if he tried each light of the spectrum, Ryou could master the green light and its respective emotion better, considering Ryou was still a teenager, quite possibly the youngest in the Corps at the time and thus prone to unstable emotions.

Both Stewart and Bruce advised him against that.

He thought of doing it a few times, despite not knowing how he would be able to gain each ring. He still had the green power ring, something Dick had stashed in with the clothes without thinking, and that was tucked away in his pocket with the red power ring.

For the time being, Ryou would be content bumming around the space mall. Mentally, he noted that he had Dick to thank for packing a couple masks, cowls, capes, and even the whole Steelwing suit along with some clothes in the oversized duffel bag. Under all of that, an assortment of weapons and gadgets, travel size of course, and his green power battery.

As soon as he could, Ryou took the time to correct his hair length the nanosecond he had access to the proper tools.

To be fair, now that he thought about it, Ryou wasn't actually living off the money from the water fountain, though he did swipe some change when he needed it. He had decided to do some odd jobs around the mall, with his payment being mostly currency, often skirting under Varkon's nose that he may or may not have been bribing with food and upgrades to his hover scooter.

"All done," Ryou patted the alien oven, careful not to burn himself as he tested it. "Should be better than new."

"Thanks Wayne," Sal hadn't even opened his shop before things started going downhill and very much up in flames. Lucky for Sal, Ryou was not leaving the mall for a while, and lucky for Ryou, no one questioned the not so fake name he was using.

Legally speaking, he was a Wayne. Blood wise, he was a Shirogane. Personally, he was both and so much more. He would gladly call himself a Grayson, a Todd, a Drake, Brown, Cain, whatever he needed to be for his younger siblings. Hell he felt they could all be Pennyworths if Alfred wouldn't mind all the paperwork.

Whatever someone needed from him, he would provide as best he could.

Another slow but sure day of work, and Ryou was feeling ready for the night shift. Varkon had told him that if "Wayne" was going to stay in the mall during after hours, he might as well be useful and take the load of security duty seriously.

And so his watch began.

"Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious," Ryou sang to himself a chipper nonsense to pass the time. At a time like this, the green power ring was a nice little comfort. In the dark of night, its light was eerie and menacing. The phrase itself, "don't be suspicious", had been one of the first things Stewart taught him, stemming from a similarity between the two of them, and learned why Ryou learned so quickly under Batman'sguidance.

He would turn each lesson into a song.

Ryou was more or less dancing through the mall as he sang, using the ring for a mini light show as he passed the fountain, even creating an entire stage at his feet. Ryou had even stopped singing the Don't Be Suspicious Song and went from peppy pop and punk to low and booming rocking metal.

Through it all, he felt... alive. The adrenaline pumped through his veins and heated every muscle as they stretched and twitched with each movement. He hadn't felt so good in a long while, and it was nice to simply relax, even if he was supposed to be on duty.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Usually, there was at least one straggler who refused to leave and insisted on shopping, complaining all the while about how rude the service was for locking the stores while they were still trying to purchase things. Most of the time- aever since "Wayne" had started working, that straggler was an old blue squid-lady that kept trying to attack him and rambled about her glory days.

"I'm sure your husband was a lucky squid," Ryou escorted the elderly Gixhi to Varkon's office, enduring the many protest that she could walk just fine but never really making an attempt to get off his back.

"My wife too," Gixhi hooted.

With a resigned hum, Ryou reached the office and tapped the door. "Oi, Varkon, civilian in need of transport here."

"Civilian," she scoffed. "I was one of the greatest warriors in my prime. The only inkhead that could ever knock me down was Gherra."

"Your wife?" Ryou adjusted his hold on the old squid as he heard small tumbles coming from inside the office.

"Husband. Nytle on the other hand was a persistent one. She had a lot of pride," Gixhi continued to spin the tale. "Made each battle all the better when I kicked her beak in."

Finally, Varkon opened the door with a huff, covered in some food. "Gixhi!" He growled. "How many times do we have to tell you about our hours?"

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm old?" Gixhi hissed back as Ryou placed her down gently.

"Stay safe you two," Ryou turned, felt a pinch on his backside, and saw Gixhi looking rather proud of herself. Shooting a little glare didn't make it stop, so Ryou just walked away.

Sighing, he went back to work. While the mall was large, it was still a confined space, and the walls seemed to close in the more Ryou thought of home.

Nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far and Ryou was pretty accepting of what he would now consider to be normal. Gotham was pretty weird in its own right, something he learned quicky as not even an hour had passed when he first arrived and someone tried to rob his parents.

Key word tried.

And that was the beginning of what became an eventful and fulfilling life in the everlasting dusk of Gotham. Now he was in space. And not just in space, he was on the other side of the universe, a frontier humans have only dreamed of reaching and fantasized about with every ounce of hope and curiosity, despite an unspoken fear that concerned the monsters among the stars.

Takashi was not part of that collective fear. He was determined to pave the way to the cosmos and hold the door open for humanity, and Ryou would be right behind him, easing the burden so Takashi could enjoy himself as well. He knew, however, that the grand vision he had in his mind would most likely not be a reality any time soon, but it was still a nice image to think about.

Varkon was nice enough to let Ryou sleep in the office. Officially, "Wayne" was supposed to be on camera duty, but a quick one hour nap would be enough to recharge. Besides, Varkon was on patrol and what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. On top of that, the mall was a safe zone. Sure there was a seedy part but he grew up in a city where the Riddler thinks he's been robbing a coffee shop bi weekly when in reality he's racking up quite the tab. Ryou felt safe and sound, even if he was, for all intents and purporses, working for Galra.

And goodness knows how much rage and murderous intent he was burying under his smiles.

Ryou awoke a good three minutes early with a chill on his spine. Looking around, he didn't find anything unusual.

The chill got worse.

It was nagging at him, biting and clawing from the deepest corners of his mind. The chill hissed and growled, snarling at him as he checked each cabinet and camera for anything wrong. But what was it? It didn't make any sense. Well, the whole sleeping while on watch duty made sense but even after that, the chill kept bugging him and evolved into an annoying itch that he couldn't quite scratch.

He felt a heat on his hip, right where the rings would be.

Taking them out, he could already tell the red ring was the source of the heat and the crawling itch creeping on every inch of skin on his body.

Luckily, the presence of the blue power ring had kept most of the worse side effects at bay. The red ring was glowing brightly, hissing at him calling and begging to be worn again.

No.

Not simply worn.

It demanded that Ryou submit himself to its power again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fun at the mall!

Even with the ring nagging at him, "Wayne" still had work to do. Another week had came and went, and he had gotten used to the routine.

Breakfast with Varkon and Sal. Tune up the lights, security functions, display models and the like, and give the mall a quick clean up before customers showed up. Patrol the mall for any and all trouble, not that much happened. After a day's work, it was another couple hours of cleaning and helping close up, then dinner with Varkon and Sal before they retreated to their respective places of residence. "Wayne" went on guard duty until morning, then rinse and repeat.

During the day, he marveled at how naive aliens could be. It was like watching a bunch of toddlers get conned out of their quarter after being told five pennies was worth more. A specific example from the mall was the Unilu knife merchant, one of the sleaziest people he's seen, and he's met quite a few people lacking in the wholesome department.

Not that Ryou himself was the pinnacle of good behavior and decisions, even if his recent actions weren't taken into consideration.

He sipped his tea with the hopes it would wash out the bitterness in his mouth.

"E-excuse me...?" A shaking voice appeared at his left side.

Ryou looked and saw a humanoid alien looking at him. Feminine figure, though he didn't want to assume. Bright blue skin with long ears and long white hair pulled into a tight braid. They wore a simple tunic with black pants, and white boots. Their eyes were quite striking-bright purple with yellow pupils. 

He realized he was staring.

"Can I help you?" He glanced to his peripherals, trying to see if anything was going on.

"I-" the alien seemed uneasy, clenching their teeth, "I don't know where the restroom is."

"O-oh," Ryou, while processing the surprising accent in their voice, could empathize. One of the perks of the power rings was that the force field had quite a number of handy functions, such as removing waste products without a problem. Ryou hadn't actually used a toilet in so long, it felt quite degrading to ask someone where it was. "Um, follow me, I'll show you."

Another nagging feeling got to him, and it wasn't the ring. Something about this alien seemed off in a way he could barely describe. Their walk was quite stiff, as if they were consciously aware of it and trying to control it. They kept looking around as well, their ears twitching as if they were a horse's tail swatting off flies. The need to answer nature's call, however, seemed genuine.

"Word of advice, this side is for guys, the other for gals, and I'm pretty sure there's one a little down the way for-" Ryou was gesturing to the restrooms when the alien sped into the ladies' room, quickly thanking him. He blanked out for a second before walking away, the gears in his head turning.

Sitting back down, he sighed tried to shake off the suspicion. Speaking of suspicious people, he had some business to take care of with the not so friendly part of the mall.

"Wayne, old buddy old pal!" The Unilu greeted him as he walked into the shop. "What brings you down here?"

"Just a few quick questions, unless there's something you think I should know about," he teased.

"No, no funny business 'round here pal," the Unilu insisted. "Everyone knows better."

"I'm sure they do," looking around, everything seemed to be in order. As much order as it could be anyway. "First question, what do you know about Voltron?"

"Vol...tron?" The Unilu glanced around. "Come on Wayne, don't tell me you believe in that old kiddy tale."

"I don't know much about it," aside from its origin and re-emergence, "but I do keep hearing that name being tossed around. So what it is?"

The Unilu scratched this head and sighed. "Look, you didn't hear it from me, but Voltron is worth quite a bit to the Galra."

"Is that so?" He pretended to be interested in something, if only to keep up appearances. "I thought it was an old kiddy tale?"

"I thought so too, until a bunch of Galra fleets got their cruisers knocked around by it. Word is there's a reward for bringing Voltron to Emperor Zarkon, but you didn't hear it from me." The Unilu, keeping up with the ruse, polished up some merchandise.

"Hear what from you?" Flashing a smile, it felt almost unnecessary to go with Plan B.

"Exactly." The Unilu returned the grin. "So uh, what's your other question?"

"Where can I find Voltron?"

Despite the noise, the little shop had been encased in silence.

"What do you mean? Voltron just shows up you can't find it."

"Voltron is a weapon, and weapons need someone to handle them," his hand went to his pocket, he felt the familiar heat of the ring. The Unilu fidgeted around too much for his liking.

The ring was just about to see the artificial light of day when he heard a scream.

Running out of the shop, he saw a cloaked figure making their way towards the exit with stolen goods in hand. From the looks of it, small weapons. With a growl, he gave chase, quick to close the gap.

Hot on the thief's tail, he reached for the thief's cloak when something made impact with him, his hand became encased in some heavy substance that threw off his balance.

From a blind spot, another cloaked figure joined the escape. Growling, he put on the ring and in a flash of brilliant green, the substance was gone and the chase resumed. Though he had to admit, they were quite fast and agile, but he wouldn't be the man he was if he didn't have some tricks as well.

In the hangar, he used a hard light decoy to push them towards a dead end and it worked out far better than it should have. With their backs to a wall, he could deal with them and return the goods without any further trouble.

Or so he planned.

Before he could even suggest they talk things over, the taller of took two shots at the panel that controlled the airlock. Once to freeze it over, twice to add recoil and break it, causing the airlock to open.

Anchoring himself, he was able to grab onto the taller figure's arm as they whizzed by. Holding the figure close, familiar purple and yellow eyes glared at him.

In surprise, Ryou let go.

He saw that civilians had gotten caught up in the airlock malfunction and went to bubble them, getting one last look at the two thie-... the two as they entered a large white and orange ship.

Varkon had a fit about letting a couple of rebels escape. A loud fit. "Wayne" explained that the safety of the civilians came first, and damn near ordered Varkon to resume the day's patrol so he could fix the airlock.

All the while, the red ring still hissed at him. And he listened. It told him he was wasting his time and he agreed. He was supposed to be looking for someone and the only information available were things he already knew. This place was too... too... easygoing. No soldiers, no sentries, pirates barely wandered in and even then they knew not to cause trouble, if only for their own sake.

The ring told him to get out as soon as possible and to do it fast, before he lost himself to the mundane cycle of carefree life. He knew he had to but deep down, he wished it lasted a little bit longer. It felt safe in the mall, strange as that may seem.

With the airlock fixed, and the ring hissing louder than ever, Ryou finished the last of the work he would be doing in the mall.

"What do you think Wayne?" Sal's voice barely broke through the hiss.

"Huh?" He wasn't paying attention.

"Is something wrong? You look unfocused," Varkon looked at "Wayne's" plate, noticing that the food was barely touched.

"No, I-" sighing, he looked to Sal and Varkon. "I'm leaving."

"What?" Both of them were in disbelief.

"Wayne, you're not serious are you?" Sal had to help Varkon stop choking on his food. "You've been doing just fine here, why do you want to leave?"

"I have a mission and I can't complete it if I stay here." The reply was mechanical, near devoid of any emotion. "Therefore, I decided to leave."

Looking at the two Galra, he expected the yelling, the insistance that he stay and continue guard duty for them, even brute force. He hoped it didn't come to violence, knowing it would be a very one sided battle.

To his surprise, they smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't said this yet but thanks for all the kudos!

They were smiling at him with the fondness of old pals and it confused Ryou to no end.

"You... aren't mad?" Even the red ring seemed confused, with the green and blue rings seemingly amused by this development if that's what their low hums meant.

"Well, we are," Sal shrugged, "but we know how important a mission can be. I mean, look at Varkon here, he's the Emperor's biggest fan yet he's here and not in a fleet."

Varkon, finally able to breathe and eat without one disrupting the other, shot a glare at Sal. "I was put here to protect this mall!"

Sal chuckled, giving another warm smile to Wayne. "Point is, we all have a mission, and we won't stop you if it's that important to you."

Dumbfounded Wa-... Ryou nodded and smiled.

Despite such a sudden decision, Sal had managed to turn a simple get together into a last second farewell party with just a few spices and fancy dessert. They even helped Wayne pack his things.

"Are you sure you don't need a ship?" Sal accompanied the two down to the hangar. "There's a few in Lost and Found that haven't been claimed."

"I appreciate the thought but I'm not really much of a pilot," Ryou explained. "I'll be fine with this," he held up the green power battery.

"Wayne, you know you never really explained how that thing works," Varkon looked at the battery, raising an eyebrow.

"Light and sheer willpower," Ryou answered. "And no, I am not joking," he flashed a cocky smile.

"Well however it works, you've done a fine job using it here," Sal put a hand on Ryou's head and ruffled his hair. "And I know you're going to do great things."

Ryou blanked out for a moment. He felt warmth all around him, his breath hot and shaky as that warmth held him steady. When he was released from the warm and fuzzy daze, he was floating in the middle of space and the mall many light years behind him. His things were with him, clothes and weapons and all. He noticed, however, that his mask was off and he felt all sorts of fatigued.

He sighed, curling up into a ball and letting momentum carry him.

When he first met Sal and Varkon, he thought them to be the only thing standing between freedom and going back into the arena. That if they were to recognize his face or simply come to dislike him, they would make a call to Galra Command or the nearest military outpost and send him away. He would get out easily, of course, but the lingering suspicion that he would wind up back in that arena terrified him. Not because he wouldn't have an escape, the ring wasn't his only weapon, but because the arena guaranteed blood on his hands.

The smells filled his nose and throat. Blood, excrement, urine, and an assortment of other bodily fluids all mixed in a horrid brew known as fear. The noise of it all pulsed in his ears as well, buzzing and muffled by faulty memory.

And if he focused-if he really focused and concentrated on the sensation of being back there, he could see it.

Pillars for cover or improvised weaponry, light gray brownish dirt under his feet, a long sword with a hooked end clutched tight in his hand. Around him, behind the noise and smell, were rows and rows of spectators, all cheering for blood and brutality.

One set of eyes caught his attention, or rather, he caught their attention. Two pairs of glowing yellow eyes that narrowed as Ryou fought his way out a tricky hold and claimed a ruthless victory soon after. Eyes that kept watch as he made quick, vicious work of a smaller, weaker opponent as a prelude to the towering beast they had lined up for him. Eyes that looked down on him whenever he looked up at them, silently asking if this was what they wanted from him.

Those same eyes that glared as Ryou set his sights on them with a burning blade of crimson light held in his hand.

The image of the scowling pair flashed into gentle, cheerful, beaming smiles as Varice's voice recounted the tale of the first Paladins.

Zarkon didn't seem as menacing when he imagined the awkward first meeting with a determined and spirited Honerva, and the witch didn't seem as mysterious when he remembered that he had a similar ambition to improve.

The war didn't seem so black and white when he thought of being in Zarkon's position. The love of his life a catatonic, jibbering, bedridden husk, the only option being the rift that practically spewed energy and was still under intense research. Falling unconscious for days only to wake up with his home destroyed, his best friend responsible for the devastation, and his other friends not doing anything about it.

He could only wonder what Hagg-... Honerva was feeling. Waking up alone, in unimaginable pain, and the only thing in mind being a desire to harness the energy of life itself. No memory of anything before waking up besides the gravitation to the one other being in the room who had the means to her ends.

What if he was in that situation? As a result of losing himself to the rings? Who would be there to remind him of who he was? Who would keep him from becoming a single-minded demon bent for that last ambition in his mind.

Out here, no one. But he knew there were people out there that would care.

And in a way, the Galra cared about their leaders. Behind that fear, maybe, just maybe, the Galra felt that Zarkon and Honerva-or whoever they thought the witch was-were in the right. They fought to protect their ideals, however warped and far from the original values those ideals may be, because they believed in their hearts that their emperor was right and how far was Ryou himself from something similar?

The green ring blinked, and Ryou instinctively felt what it meant. Stretching out, he wondered if he could stop on a planet or moon for a quick recharge. He looked at the color, however, and realized he wasn't limited anymore.

With the power battery held in front of him and the ring in front of the battery, he took a deep breath.

"In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil shall escape my sight," his voice was soft and low in the thinning force field. "Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power-"

Despite everything, the ring still saw him worthy, evident in its intense glow. He wondered if it had glowed that brightly all those years ago as well.

"-Green Lantern's light."

A familiar energy passed through him.

Gentle, like hope.

Vigorous, like rage.

Calming, like no other.

A light sigh escaped Ryou's lips, and he saw a wisp of emerald dissipate in the void.

"Sounds like someone's happy," Hal's voice came from the ring.

"Hey Hal," Ryou answered, a soft smile on his lips.

"How you holding up? John was ready to go after you when you bailed like that," Hal sounded worried but encouraging.

"Well I just walked out on a nice security job at the space mall, completely blanked on the actual walking out part, and now I'm spinning towards an unknown destination," Ryou answered.

"Sounds like something you need help with," Hal was using his Uncle Voice.

"My pride is telling me no," Ryou chuckled. "I'm just letting the universe take me somewhere and I'm confident it's somewhere helpful."

"That sounds like a horrible plan," Hal argued.

"But it's a plan," Ryou messed with his hair. "I know what I'm looking for and if I could be a few feet away from it once, I can definitely get to it again."

"Eventually?" Hal huffed.

"Eventually," Ryou shrugged. "I will drag Takashi home by his tail if I have to."

"You have no idea how much I would pay to see another Clash of The Bats," it was Hal's turn to chuckle and it felt nice to be a simple voice command away from people he knew.

"Why wait for me? Just tell Jason that Dick touched his stuff, it won't be a total lie," Ryou played with his hair, wondering if he cut it too short. "Wait what do you mean by pay?"

"Uh," Hal was caught red handed. "Oh look at that work stuff! Yeah it's a call from the Guardians on Oa, official Green Lantern business, veterans only, have fun looking for Takashi you little rascal!"

With that, Hal disconnected.

Ryou laughed and continued flying.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahaha

Ryou awoke to a familiar bright green skies, yellow earth, and red plant life around him. The statistical odds were heavily stacked against him of finding it by chance, but coordinates from the red ring made it possible. He didn't think he would be back, it wasn't very high on his list of places to revisit, it was only there for food reasons.

But he was here, and he had a purpose.

Red moss had grown on parts on the metal, creeping on the melted edges of the remains of the ship and what was left of the crew. Small animals and insects had picked the bodies clean, inside and out, leaving bones and empty pieces of armor.

"I did this," Ryou's voice echoed in what may had been a hallway, fingers tracing the warped and twisted metal. "I did this," he muttered as he saw a withered skull.

He found a nice clearing near the edge of the destruction, with a little hill, a nice big tree, and an amazing view in the morning light and likely to be even more amazing at any time of day.

Using his hands, he dug a wide and deep hole near the base of the tree. Carefully, he carried each body he could find to the hole, four soldiers and their lieutenant for a total of five, and laid them side by side. With his hands, he refilled the hole, finishing just before noon.

He still wasn't done, however.

Looking through the wreckage again, he found the blades they used on him. The lieutenant's blade was in his hand but not quite ready for its final duty.

His hands shook as he switched the green ring for the red ring. He took a few deep breaths as he traced out words in the language of the Galra, something he begrudgingly learned but was glad to know.

"Death is not defeat," he muttered as the last symbol was etched onto the blade and placed it firmly into the pile of muddy yellow earth. His hands steadied as he removed the red ring and placed it in his pocket.

Legs tucked under him, hands together, head bowed, and eyes closed, Ryou's voice filled the air as soft as a breeze.

"Death is not defeat," he began. "Death is beautiful. Death is to lay among the earth, under the grass and the sky, listening to silence. Death is no past. Death is no future. Death is an end and a beginning. Death is peace."

The wind felt nice.

All of this was a formality, really. He didn't care.

He didn't care about who these Galra were when he killed them. He didn't care about what they would be if he didn't kill them. They were in his way and then they weren't. He didn't care at all and that was what he cared about.

Selfish, really, how he gave these soldiers a ghost of a proper burial to relieve the stress his lack of care had on his conscious. Maybe he did care, somewhere deep down and buried. Though it made sense either way. The Galra got a burial, whether Ryou cared or not.

Ryou always knew murder was wrong. To forcibly take the gift of life was a power he had no actual authority to use. That boundary was crossed and burned when he adopted the title of Champion in the arena. With that crossing, he found that he had not minded killing and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Of coure, he tried to rationalize it by telling himself it was a means to an end, a temporary action until a new action could be taken.

When he finally stood, feeling the stinging pain in his legs from sitting in a position he hadn't used in years, he found that he still didn't care.

Their lives still held no meaning to him and that meant a lot to him.

Midday and Ryou felt exhausted and guilty for not caring as much as he knew he should. He walked to the edge of the hill, seeing it dropped off into a fairly high cliff overlooking a meadow. He stood on that edge, taking in the experience he missed in favor of bloodshed.

"You're terrible, you know that right?" A Galra had appeared by his side.

"Yep," Ryou took a peek. A low ranking soldier, judging by the modified helmet. "How'd you manage to escape my wrath?"

"I kept crawling and it kept working," the Galra huffed. "Why did you come back?"

"To fix my mess," Ryou looked back to the crashed and half burnt ship. Nature was claiming it and had a nice job so far. "Your friends didn't deserve to die like that."

"And what criteria qualifies you to make that judgement?" The Galra looked at him with a bit of a snarl.

"Common sense," Ryou sighed. "Something I usually ignore."

"And look what happens when you ignore it," the Galra gesured to the ship.

"Yep." Ryou shrugged and looked at the green skies above him.

They stood in silence for what felt like an hour.

"Are you going to fix all your messes?" The Galra asked, not looking away from the sky.

"I'll try," Ryou answered, feeling the breeze. "It might take a while, considering how it became more of a sport than a grudge halfway through my journey."

"And what journey were you taking?" Those eyes, gray with yellow sclera, looked at Ryou again.

Ryou looked at the sky and then back to the Galra. "I don't know. I told myself I was looking for someone but I never really put effort into the looking part. I just flew and destroyed anything that was remotely Galra and in my way."

"And what about now?"

Ryou smiled and sighed. "I don't know."

"Well aren't you just a wealth of knowledge?" The Galra looked back to the sky.

"Not really," Ryou argued. "My mechanical knowledge is beyond compare but near everything else is complete garbage."

"Is that so?" The Galra raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yep," Ryou sighed. "Your friends there, they really didn't deserve this."

"The grave?"

"The way they died. I could only hope that it was too quick to feel any pain, but I don't think I was that merciful." Ryou could feel the ring hissing at him.

"And why do you care?" The Galra kept their eyes on him.

He let his eyes wander. To the sky, the ground, to his dirtied hands, the Galra, the moss and branch covered ship. "I don't care about them, I care about what happened to them. I care about what effects my actions have on others. This? This wasn't right at all. I just wanted to be angry, to burn down everything in my way because I wanted everyone in the fucking universe to know just how pissed off I was."

His hand began to shake, and the Galra took a step back.

"But-" he sighed, "it wasn't right. I shouldn't have done that but I can't change the past." Not a complete lie, if Hal was right about using the ring for time travel, but no way was Ryou going to mess with history. "Right now, the least I could do is give them a proper grave."

"Ah yes. A grave in the depths of a forest on a remote planet in the middle of space," the Galra sighed.

"It's the thought that counts, right?" Ryou smiled sheepishly.

The Galra chuckled. "You're terrible."

"I thought we already established that?" Ryou smiled back, wondering where this was going.

"Well, I believe that's all I needed from you," the Galra firmly grabbed Ryou's right hand.

The hand felt warm, and despite the confusion, Ryou returned the gesture with a firm grab of his own.

"Ryou Shirogane of Earth," the Galra spoke, their grip tightening. "You have the ability to feel great compassion."

"Wait wha-"

"Welcome to the Indigo Tribe."

"WAIT-"

A bright flash of light obscured Ryou's vision. It wrapped around him and held tight, almost too tight for his liking. Just as suddenly as the light appeared, it was gone, and so was the Galra he was chatting with.

He twisted around, looking for any signs of where the Galra might have went but found none. As he walked, however, he tripped on something long and thin, meeting the ground face first.

"Sonuva-" Ryou groaned as he picked himself up, seeing his hand once again covered in a shining black material. "Oh for the love of-" he noticed that where red and green had been before from the respective rings, a blue-ish purple now wrapped around his wrists, chest, shoulders, and feet. "Oh come on!"

Once again a ring was forced onto him. The only ring he actually accepted with full knowledge of the responsibility it came with was the green one and even then Bruce had to fight Hal and Stewart on such a topic. He looked down, and at his feet was a thin staff roughly half his height, barely reaching his hip, with a hollow bowl on the top that emitted light.

Sighing, he walked back to get his things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryou's little speech is a paraphrasing of a quote from Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost. Besides that, the only thing I know about Oscar Wilde is that he believed in art for art's sake. Like, no spcial meanings just art. Which is awesome.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fight scenes.

Indigo, the light of compassion.

Yet all Ryou could feel was anger.

He didn't ask for the green ring in the first place, it just came to him when he saved Taka from a Riddler-heist gone horribly wrong. He had a good run with Hal and Stewart, giving Kilowog a run for his money by flip-flopping between following the rules and being a wild cannon while picking up all sorts of engineering tricks in the same time it took Kilowog to explain them. In the end, mostly due to already retiring from similar work with Bruce, Ryou's request for a discharge from active duty was accepted and he was encouraged to come back whenever he felt the urge.

The red ring, at first, seemed like a blessing. The power to weaponize his misery and throw it back felt too good to be true. While he did come to realize it was a curse, it was too late to rpair the damage it had done to him. The more he thought about it, however, the more it seemed that his lack of empathy was innate in a way rather than a side effect of the ring.

Donning the blue ring was a matter of life or death. Simply put, he didn't feel like a member, so he didn't wear the ring. More than that, it was Razer's ring. Sure, Razer let Ryou have the ring but Ryou didn't feel worthy of it in the first place. It was following Razer for a reason, and Ryou felt he robbed his Red Lantern superior of the chance of getting rid of the vile trinket.

And now he was forced to wear another ring. He took off it as soon as he had a safer place to put it besides his pocket, and the staff fit awkwardly in the gym bag, no matter how he rearranged his clothes and equipment to fit it in.

Looking at the grave one last time, he placed the green ring on his finger, feeling more at ease with it than any other ring.

"In brightesy day in darkest night no evil shall ecape my sight let those who worship evil's might bewaremypowerGreenLantern'slight!" Ryou was able to get through the oath in about six seconds or so in a single breath and took to the skies in a single bound. He was nearly invisible, the green light being only a few shades away from that of the sky. He wasn't done on this planet but had to get away for the time being. Get away and come back when no ring was trying to strap itself onto him.

He spents a few months retracing his steps and digging graves when he could. For a couple weeks, he tested the blue ring, though he found it difficult to continuously keep hope in his heart, despite being quite the optimist. He had switched back to the green ring after a while, mostly because he didn't feel truly worthy of the blue ring in the first place and partly because the blue uniform remained a variant of a footie pajamas, no matter how much he willed it to resemble his green uniform that in turn resembled John Stewart's uniform.

He looked at the indigo ring, something he had ignored for quite a while, and finally decided he should see what it could do.

Ryou switched the rings and grabbed the staff from the bag, noting how the light didn't seem to have a source besides a vague "inside."

Constructs were merely a different color and as intricate as Ryou's imagination allowed. He didn't feel any different, besides the tiny warmth in his heart as he recreated Wayne Manor. However, he did feel as though he knew something that he didn't know before. Besides that, the Indigo ring seemed like any other ring, but there was a trick to it and the mystery of that trick dug into his mind and compelled him to continue testing its power, whatever it may be.

The staff was pretty cool, leaving a little trail of light whenever he swished it around. It felt like a firework.

Smiling, Ryou wondered what the function the staff served besides being cool.

"I wonder," musing to himself, he pointed it at a nearby rock, "if it's a weapon."

A bolt of light emerged from the tip of the staff and hit the rock, shattering it to pebbles and dust.

He honestly didn't know what else to happen as soon as the word "weapon" came out of his mouth.

"Nok," a voice appeared behind him.

Swiftly, Ryou spun around, lowering his body and holding his arms close to his side. He saw a tall humanoid with the symbol of the Indigo ring on his forehead.

"Is that anyway to greet a fellow Tribe member?" The humanoid was quite tall and hulking.

"Considering I'm on the run from the Galra, everyone is suspicious to me," Ryou answered, taking a few steps back.

"How unfortunate, it seems the light of compassion hasn't properly cleansed you." The humanoid took a few steps forward.

"And suddenly, I feel attacked," Ryou growled and noticed his bag was behind the humanoid. "Look, it was nice meeting you but I have somewhere t-"

"Nok!" The humanoid swung his much longer staff at Ryou, aiming for his face. Ryou generated a shield just in time and was knocked back.

"Dude!" Ryou shouted, thinking of a way to get his things and retreat.

"You will feel compassion," the humanoid growled as he charged, "for all the lives you have stolen."

In that instant, Ryou's vision turned red.

The light on his staff turned a burning crimson. The shield was dropped and Ryou charged.

"How dare you act like you know me!?" Ryou growled, feeling the red ring's light.

Ryou was never a slouch in combat. Bruce was always particular on keeping thugs and rogues alive after fights. Jason stop caring because he believed Batman was a coward. Damian was an assassin but came around after a while. As the eldest three of the bunch, Dick, Takashi, and Ryou himself were all quite partial to the no killing rule.

Not like it did a load of good for two thirds of the Musketeers in space though.

"What sort of heartless bastard do you think I am?" Ryou hadn't had a fight like this in a long while and that pissed him off. His gut hurt, he was pretty sure a rib was broken, and he spat blood whenever he opened his mouth.

"One who does not bother to remember the names of his victims!" The humanoid roared as he punched Ryou in the gut, breaking another rib and sending Ryou flying.

His back hit a tree, knocking out his breath.

"You leave them to rot," the humanoid looked down at Ryou, "as if they were nothing to you."

Did he though? He burned most of them, so there was nothing to leave behind besides destroyed ships. And he didn't know what happened to the bodies in the arena after he was lead back to his cell. For all he knew, they were burned as well.

Coughing and spitting blood wasn't a good sign. He felt a hand pick him up by the head, holding him up with his feet barely touching the ground.

"You have a lot to learn about compassion," the humanoid sighed.

"Compassion?" Ryou's voice was shaking. "You keep saying that word, but I don't think you know what that means."

"How would you, a ruthless killer, know about compassion?" The humanoid questioned him.

"I-It's n-not something y-you force," Ryou could feel a light in him blinking in and out, like an ember in a wind trying to grow.

"Coming a savage murderer," the humanoid squeezed his hand, making the headache hurt a hundred times over, "I am not convinced."

"Th-Then how about from s-someone who's been digging graves," Ryou could feel a smirk creeping on his face, "for all those I apparently left out for the maggots?"

"Liar," the humanoid immediately accused.

"I don't care," Ryou spat. "I don't care about their lives, I don't care about what you'll do to me, but I'd be damned before I let some asshole like you tell me how I should feel."

A bright light blinded the humanoid. Ryou felt rejuvenated and in that moment, time slowed. He clearly saw an opening for an attack, and should he take it, he could down the humanoid with a few easily blows and restrain him, or even kill him then and there. Another option was just as plain to see. Dash to his bag, grab it, and put some distance between the humanoid and himself.

While killing would quicker, Ryou didn't want to add another grave to his evergrowing list.

Grabbing the bag, Ryou had to fight every urge to go back, listening to Bruce's voice that echoed in his head, at war with an equally compelling hiss.

He felt something on his back, and stepped to the side just in time to see a bolt of red light fly by his face, taking a couple strands of hair with it. The humanoid was not letting him get away that easily.

"Nok." The humanoid was at his side in the next instant.

"Same to you." Ryou pointed his staff at the humanoid and a construct resembling a comically large wrench appeared around the humanoid's head. Ryou took a swing and the humanoid disappeared over the horizon of trees.

With at least a few more moments to himself, now was the time to get away as fast as his ring's charge would allow.

"Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur," the words were flowing past his lips without thinking. "Natromo faan tornek wot ur. Ter Lantern ker lo Abin Sur, taan lek lek nok, Formorrow sur!"

His staff glowed brighter, and for the third time that day, a bright flash wrapped around Ryou.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Narrator voice: And if you listen closely, you can hear cackling amidst the screams.
> 
> Yeah, you know all those fanfics and fanart of Shiro-wait no spoiler? Angst definitely!

Ryou should really take warnings more seriously.

First, he learned that in most realities, he didn't even live past five, which was a shock to say the absolute very least, and he didn't question John Constantine's advice ever again. Then, the brother he had so little chances of growing up with in the first place disappears into space, comes back a traumatized mess, and disappears again with another brother and three students, one of which Ryou was teaching. Finally, he kept getting close to finding them and kept having that hope snatched away from him.

This time, he was back in the hands of the pirates who sold him off to the Galra all those months ago. Thankfully, he had some foresight to stash away his things in the ring's pocket dimension when he was out of the wormhole, as he was sure they would have taken his things if he had them out in the open.

"Look at how scared he is," the spider with a humanoid upper half sneered at him with all eight of her eyes. "How could someone so small be the Galra's favorite?"

Wrapped around him, holding his shoulders with clawed hands, was a snake woman leaning hard on the snake traits. "Maybe he's a pet," she hissed in his ear.

Ryou's voice was caught in his throat, and his breath was strained and shaking.

"Or a toy," the spider lowered herself from the ceiling, still looking at Ryou. "Told you we should have kept him."

"Nera you know we needed the money," the snake woman, Ziali as he recalled from last time, hissed.

"Not to mention wiping our records clean," the spider smiled and made soft clicking noises.

The door opened, and in walked the cpatain. A humanoid at least seven or even eight feet tall with dark red skin, four horns-two on each temple, and a long tail with a sharp arrow-shaped tip. As she walked, the metal struggled to keep its shape with each clank of her two hooves. At her side, seemingly hissing as it walked, a deathly thin reptilian horse-like animal with a sharp beak and large bat-like wings.

"Tala," Ryou looked him right in her red and black eyes, making note of Ziali's long, serpentine form slithering away in the corner of his vision.

"Champion," her hand glided over the animal's back as it stalked its way towards Ryou.

Ryou did not move as the animal, an Alamort if he was remembering everything correctly, nipped at his face.

"Wrava," Tala did not move her eyes," don't spoil the merchandise."

"People aren't merchandise," Ryou narrowed his eyes into a glare, feeling a fire bubbling in his veins as a faint smile graced Tal's face.

"I am not a fan of games, Champion," she did not seem to blink. "This little dance was boring the first time around," she leaned down. "Be glad I don't slice your throat here and now."

"And what's stopping you?" Ryou could feel Ziali and Nera looking at him, but paid them no mind.

"GAK," Tala's teeth flashed, which was surely intentional. "You're so valuable, we can't afford to leave you in a shallow grave."

"That's makes one of us," Ryou raised his chin ever so slightly higher.

"You think just because you fought in the arena, you can fight against us?" Ziali hissed, crossing her arms.

"From what I hear, it's quite the spectacle," Nera also crossed her arms. "Zarkon himself goes to see them."

"And they're willing to pay a large sum for your capture, Champion." Tala's tail flicked, making a whipping sound in the air as she turned away. "Sit tight, you'll be home soon enough."

With that sharp crack, something in Ryou's head clicked and everything went dark.

......

............

The sound of a heavy form being dragged into the room caught his attention. A door shut, and he was alone with that other heavy being.

His hands were restrained and his legs were free. In the distance, he could hear the roar of the crowd.

He smiled.

Must be some new form of stipulation. Small dark room with the door locked until one of them was down for the count. Odd, but managable, considering his opponent hadn't moved yet.

An outside source cut off his bounds in a flash of light. Even more weird, though it did get his opponent to move.

"How did you-?"

A girl, by the sound of it, with a hiss in their voice as they charged forward.

Stepping to the side, he grabbed onto them, feeling a scaly arm.

There was a snap, and a scream, and it echoed in the small room far better than any scream in the spacious arena.

More snaps and crunches, the scales cut his skin with each swipe of his hand. The door opened and he was confused when a voice told him to stop.

Wasn't this a match? It had to be, if the crowd was still cheering in the distance. Then why was he being told to stop? Maybe it was another opponent too eager to fight.

Bending backwards, he dodged something hot and fast, kicking the other fighter as he flipped and felt something scratch his feet.

"You-!" Another girl. Multiple little feet clicked their way towards him. "You'll pay for this!"

Not an eager fighter, but a vengeful one. They were always so desperate, so careless.

The surprising part was that they were allowed a weapon that wasn't a sword. It felt unfair, but then again, all of his matches had the odds stacked against him, it was part of the performance.

Something large and thick was on the floor, writhing around with the first's one screams. A sort of serpent, if he had to guess, he'd fought one before. The second one was a bit harder to pin down.

Insect, maybe, considering the match with the giant centipede. There was a severe lack of legs, however, meaning it was another type of insect but he couldn't say which.

Then again, it didn't matter by the time he figured out it was a spider. They were down much the same way.

Two down fairly quickly. He wondered if he should have held back, at least for the sake of his audience. Although, as long as he was brutual, and as long as he continued to win, he would be in their favor and that was all that mattered for the time being.

There was a hallway this time. Must be a part of the new set up, even if it was still weird.

"What do you get out of this?" A voice asked him.

From what little light there was, he could see a tall figure with glowing eyes glaring at him. He liked tall ones, though almost all of his opponents were tall, and if not tall then simply large and bulky. Always good for a colorful match.

"Is it revenge for selling you the first time?" In the dark, he could see long claws and a sharp edge to the tail. "Or is a simple, primal enjoyment? I wouldn't put it past you. It is one our more similar traits."

Oh great.

Just great.

Just absolutely fan-fucking-tastic.

Monologues.

He growled, lowering his stance.

"You're not the sa-"

He hated monologuing opponents. Always some idiot trying to rise up against the overseers and represent the strength of their kind and blah blah blah blah blah. Honestly, keeping a list of all the speeches he's heard would take more brain power than he was willing to give.

The crowd's cheering became more distant, almost silent, and it was clear he wasn't where he thought he was.

There was one more being in the room. Some sort of horse with large wings. It screamed at him, backing away and spreading its wings to no avail.

Something spoke to him.

"You have the ability to instill great fear." A light approached him, brighter than anything in the room. "Welcome to the Sinestro Corps."

A power like no other filled him. Bright and bubbling. New and different yet somehow, in the deepest reaches of his mind, familiar. Familiar, like an old friend.

No, that wasn't right. It was more than a friend. It was a love.

It was family.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little look into Champion Ryou's mind. He's a poetic little shit and I distinctly remember him being a complete ass to write.

The animal stayed by his side, letting the name Wrava speak to him when he looked at her ethereal majesty.

Her favorite meal was meat. Fresh meat, ripped from her prey. He could watch that beak stab into flesh and bones all day, listening to the squishing and tearing and cracking. She objected at first, still screeching and fighting as he himself fought against the urge to snap the creature's neck and be done.

But a voice, deep down, asked for her to be spared, and he could understand why.

Never before he had something so perfectly phantasmal. Alive but invoking the image of death so flawlessly. Hooves trotted softly upon the earth, leathery wings noiselessly gliding in the foggy dusk and folding in as day begins to break.

Wrava was a living wraith, and he loved her dearly, despite her making her hate of him fairly clear.

No matter, really. It would not change how he felt.

Speaking of feelings, there was an odd sensation that he could not shake.

A tug at his heart.

A pull and push that guided him.

And yet to where, he could not say.

How could he put into words what he had yet to understand?

Pull and push were much to vague and bland, and held the implication that it was against his will, and no one was allowed to influence him to such a degree.

He wanted to know where he was going. To know what laid beyond the frontier ahead.

Though, the more he focused on this... gravitation, the more it felt he was in search of someone, not something.

That began to beg the question of who was the recipient of this grand gesture. To whom shall his arrival be a surprise for?

A lover perhaps? Lost in the undertow of the cosmos?

No, but there was an affection. There was a kiss, a warmth that peppered his forehead and cheeks when he tried to remember. Warmth that wrapped around his shoulders yet simultaneously settled in his arms.

It brought a smile to his face.

He could no longer hear the cheers, and wondered if they were ever there in the first place. And on the chance that if they weren't, then those he had fought were not scheduled opponents.

Oh well.

C'est la vie.

Warfare was all he knew and that was quite the extensive library of knowledge.

One of them did mention selling him, and in that laid the chance of him not being the first nor the last that they had sold.

The wraith had accepted his presence, her hisses dying down with every meal they shared and brush of his hand. He could still feel the resentment that ignored his voice and nipped at his neck when he wasn't looking, however, and wondered if the wraith would be happier with someone else.

While she laid on the other side of the camp fire, his thoughts traced back to that gravitation.

Where that warmth had laid once before felt cold and empty.

A plea for its return wept from his heart.

It was a void inside him, longing to be filled.

He wondered again what it was.

Who had left him feeling this way?

Who had he lost that he was so desperate to search for?

Who was so important to him?

The wonderful feeling the gravitation left him was more than enough reason to follow it. But one other question etched into his mind.

How would he find the gravitation?

He was certainly looking, but how could he search for something when he didn't know what they looked like?

So many questions, yet he felt he knew the answer.

Sighing, he looked at the fire.

Wild and bright. Crackling in his ears, the smoke burning his eyes and stinging his nostrils.

The arena came to mind. The crowds, the cheers, the weight and feel of the blade in his hand as it swung and sliced and stabbed. It was exilerating. Thrilling. A sense of purpose.

Curious, however.

There was purpose but no fulfillment.

He enjoyed the arena. He enjoyed the fighting. He enjoyed seeing the smiles on the crowd when he stood over his win, blade or fist held high above his head in triumph.

Yet no achievement came from it. His award for all of his efforts was living to see the next fight and minimal self-care.

So many questions, so little time, it felt like.

All he knew now was that the gravitation was a tangible being and he was going to reach it soon, as long as he kept searching.

"Ryou!" A voice, Galra, spoke to him. "So this is where've you been?"

He looked towards the source and saw two Galra, one shorter than the other, both rather angry.

"It was an inconvenience when you kept attacking cruisers we were stationed on," the taller of the two began to scold. "It was an insult when you made us a part of your devious plans."

He was going to punch the Galra if he kept talking. Punch, kick, bite, snap a few bones.

"But to sacrifice yourself for our sake and not even tell us you're alive is unacceptable!" The taller Galra growled with some strain in his voice.

"Along with the fact that you obtained another power!" The shorter stepped forward.

"Yes! Thank you Thracer!" The taller tried to smile. "What do you have to say for yourself Ryou?"

He...

He didn't...

He didn't understand.

He didn't recognize these Galra.

He didn't know what they were talking about.

Attacking cruisers? Devious plans? Self sacrifice?

None of those sounded like him.

The cruisers were only for information. The crew needed persuasion but a simple flash of his light was enough to do the trick.

As for devious plans, all he knew was that he was following the gravitation and he had no idea what that gravitation was in the first place.

Besides, of course, being warm and familiar.

Even then, what was so wrong with it?

Self sacrifice was also an odd one.

Everything he did, from the steps he took, to where he allowed Wrava to move, was all to ensure he would live. What advantage would come from throwing himself into danger if it weren't for food or shelter?

The arena was no exception. Every step, every swing, every breath was to keep himself alive.

Unless of course, they were talking about someone else. That was the only way that the outlandish things these Galra were saying made any sense to him.

That must have been it..

They had him confused with someone else.

The only way everything they had told him made sense if it was about someone else who had done all of these things.

"Who's Ryou?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are getting a "I just watch Avengers: Infinity War and processing all the deaths" special.
> 
> Speaking of Marvel, I apparently made a Winter Soldier reference, haha.

"Who's Ryou?" Ryou himself asked as he narrowed his eyes at them, cloaked in black and yellow, a striking difference to the black and red he had when they last saw him.

"Thracer stay behind me," Graz told them, holding his arm out and gently pushing them behind him.

Everything Graz had said was correct. Ryou's red power kept halting progress of the Empire, often rivalling Voltron's power with much more destruction and death in his wake.

All Ryou had said was correct as well.

The Empire was not generous. It was not merciful. Where weakness was a disease to Emperor Zarkon, it had been an opportunity to Ryou's kind. His kind often took the weak and helpless and taught them to fend for themselves and those who chose not to take those opportunities. These kinds of individuals, heroes as Ryou called them, were respected by civilians.

Wait, no. That wasn't the right word.

Not just respected but...

admired.

Loved.

And the Empire was feared.

"Do you have business with me?" Ryou asked, still not knowing his own name.

Thracer looked again at Ryou, trying to find the anomaly, and saw a yellow ring around his finger, next to a green ring. One of those two had to be causing his strange behavior.

"Yes," Graz raised an eyebrow. "We-"

"We want to know more about you!" Thracer jumped in front of Graz. "We have heard of a strong and fearsome warrior in yellow and we believe it might be you!"

"You called me Ryou."

"Yes because," Thracer tried to keep their eyes on him as much as possible without also losing sight of the yellow ring, "you bear a great resemblance to him. To Ryou. Our friend. Who you resemble."

Ryou raised an eyebrow, looked to the Alamort, who seemed just as confused, and back to Thracer without changing the confused expression. "You wish to know about me?"

"Yes." Thracer nudged Graz in the side. "We want to know more."

"What they said," Graz growled.

With the same bewildered expression, Ryou's eyes became unfocused.

"Fans?" The yellow ring glowed.

"Yes." Thracer stared as blankly as possible.

"Okay," Ryou said. "Well, I am a warrior, but the color yellow doesn't have to do with my fighting ability. I use it for diplomatic purposes."

"How so?" Thracer nudged Graz again. "A demonstration would help us understand."

Ryou looked between the two of them with a twitch on the corners of his mouth. "Okay."

The ring glowed brighter and an image of Emperor Zarkon, discolored an eerie yellow, appeared before the two.

Graz froze, muttering apologies and begging to be spared.

Thracer was shaking. Every muscle was burning, trying to move.

It wasn't real.

It wasn't real.

That light may take the emperor's words, it may take his image, but it would not stand in their way.

With a bellowing roar, Thracer charged and dodged the yellow light by the skin of their cheek. Now close enough, Thracer bit into the flesh of Ryou's hand, feeling the rings clink under their teeth, and wrapped their arms and legs around his arm, his neck, and pinned both of his shoulders as best their larger body could.

While Thracer did not know about Ryou or his kind, they were fairly certain that he should not be able to fully support his weight with someone as big as Thracer, who was already underweight and small by Galra standards and barely able to qualify for military duty, hanging off his arm.

Not naturally, if the ring was affecting his physical abilities as well as his mental state.

Ryou was not standing, if only by a broad definition, but he was gearing up to swing his arm.

A bright flash blinded Thracer and sent them flying to nearby tree.

Spitting, Thracer found that they were able to get both rings off of Ryou's hand. His hand would be a bit mangled but he'd be fine if he could properly heal it.

Not that it was stopping him from going after Thracer.

"NO!" Graz tackled Ryou mid-stride and a primal battle broke out between the two.

Biting, kicking, scratching, pulling, punching. Thracer was sure Ryou had a smile on his face as he threw a hard punch into Graz's eqully smiling jaw.

"Thracer," a voice spoke to them.

They looked around, trying to find the source of the voice as it continued, somehow knowing their birth place. They looked down, seeing the slightly damaged yellow ring and a second green ring had appeared next to the first and was glowing brightly.

"You have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."

......

............

"Okay that's it!" Hal threw his hands up. "I'm going straight to him!"

"If he isn't wearing the ring we can't locate him," John Stewart crossed his arms, equally as upset.

"Razer, you got anything?" Hal looked to the only Red Lantern on board, who was staying only for easy transport.

"He isn't wearing the red power ring," Razer added. "And I haven't felt any disturbances in the spectrum since he's left."

"Ugh," Hal groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What are we gonna tell Batman?"

"You best tell the truth," Razer suggested.

"Says the one who practically told Ryou to take back his red ring," John shot a look at Razer.

"I did not tell him to," Razer narrowed his eyes. "I gave him the option to." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"Look, we know he's retracing his steps. I'm not saying we should, but we should definitely drag him back by his tail," Hal tried to scan for Ryou again.

"As his mentor, I agree." John kept his eyes on the scans, surprised that it had picked up two Green Lanterns a few star systems away from Ryou's last ping.

"Two Green Lanterns?" Even Razer jumped out of his seat.

"One of them has to be him," John hoped one of them was Ryou.

"But who's the other one?" Razer looked to Hal.

"That's what I'm going to find out."

Hal opened a portal and stepped through. On the other side, two Green Lanterns were in battle and barely winning.

Neither were Ryou.

However, the person they were fighting was in fact Ryou.

"Oh no," Hal groaned as he saw Ryou dodge their blasts and whips with ease.

At times like this, he was reminded that maybe the combined teachings of Killowog, John Stewart, Batman, and Hal himself created too much power for one person to hold.

"Alright all three of you, stop!" Hal constructed bubbles around each of them, bringing the new recruits closer. "Let's take a few steps back and calm down, okay kiddos?"

The smaller of the two new Green Lanterns looked at him with wide eyes as a smile grew on their face.

"You're one of Ryou's heroes!" They chirped happily.

Hal raised an eyebrow. He looked at Ryou and wondered what had happened.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking lots of liberties with how the rings work.

"If you're not Ryou, then who are you?" Hal was glaring at what should have been Ryou's eyes that had been mysteriously replaced with those of a cold monster.

"The Champion," the voice that should have been Ryou's replied.

Hal sighed. He already informed John and Razer about the situation, specifying that he was trying to get things under control at best he could. After a few minutes of back and forth, mostly between the two new recruits, the so called Champion had seemingly dozed off in his restraints or at the very least, was ignoring everyone.

"When was the last time you saw Ryou before this happened?" Hal looked at the two, noting that even the ring had no idea what they were.

The taller one, Graz, sighed.

"We were helping him look for someone named Takashi," Graz began to explain. "We found a research facility, and we were attempting to make contact with the staff when..." he began to growl.

"There was only one person attending to the facility. One of the rebels, judging by the facial markings," Thracer, shorter than Graz but taller than Hal, added. "The rebel was going to use us for experiments but Ryou made a bargain with them."

Thracer looked over to where Ryou should be and would be if not for the Champion.

"Your freedom in exchange for his," Hal guessed, already knowing Ryou had done something similar before.

"Since my body is smaller, the incapacitating agent had worn off quickly," Thracer continued to explain. "I was able to hear Ryou desperately pleading for our lives. He did everything he could to make sure we would be able to flee."

Graz's growling did not stop. "He should not be sacrificing himself for us!" He finally yelled.

"He tends to do that a lot," Hal sighed. "Kind of my fault."

"I thought the yellow ring was affecting his mind," Thracer said sadly. "But he was still behaving differently when I took it off."

"It's not just the ring," Hal remembered Ryou being vague about what happened between shooting himself into space and getting the ring besides the pirate explanation. "What did he mean when he called himself the Champion?"

With the saddest look ever, Thracer looked back to Hal.

"The Champion is a gladiator," with a low voice, Thracer began to explain again. "He is a favorite for his ferocity and ability to best even top ranked soldiers."

"Sounds pretty scary," Hal looked to Ryou again.

What would go through his head at night? When he sat in his cell, wondering if he would die alone or with a monster covered in his blood looking down at him. The guilt of it weighing down on his shoulders with every second. And to receive the red ring only aggravated the problem, and the yellow ring just made it worse.

"Where's his bag?" Hal remembered that Nightwing brought two bags with him, the Emergency Twin Kits as he called it, and left with one, meaning Ryou had taken his emergency kit.

"He-" Thracer now looked confused. "He did not have a bag."

Hal wondered what Ryou could have done with the last connection to his life back on Earth. Protect it with his life, most likely. He didn't have much of a system but always wanted to keep things he owned within reach, taking a page from John Constantine's book and had used his ring as-

"Graz, Thracer, your rings are duplicates of Ryou's, right?" Hal remembered that day well. One minute, he was simply visiting Gotham, partially because Batman needed a spy, the next minute, he was taking care of Riddler when his ring glowed brighter than usual.

"Correct," Graz nearly snapped.

"And since Ryou's ring is a duplicate of mine, maybe-"

A small green portal opened in the air just in front of Hal. Reaching in, Hal hoped he was right when he believed that the rings could reach into other rings' pocket dimensions. Feeling a strap and pulled it out of the pocket dimension, a smile on his face as a dark gray gym bag came out of the portal.

"Ryou you are so predictable at times," Hal muttered to himself as he looked through it.

Batarangs. Grappling hooks. Throwing knives. Switchblades. Butterfly knives. Multi-tools. Pepper spray. Two packs of ball bearings, totaling two hundred. And finally, three small pistols with a dozen boxes of the appropiate ammunition. There was also his personal power battery and a short staff colored a dark blue-ish purple with a glowing light.

"Where are the rings?" Hal went through the clothes, finding capes, cowls, masks, and even a full suit, but he could not for the life of him find the red, green, and blue power rings. He looked to the two rookies and they both gestured to Ryou. "Of course."

"You are his instructor, do you know how to deal with his behavior?" Graz huffed as Hal walked over to their captive/friend.

"I only know how to handle Ryou," Hal stopped a good two meters away from the son of Batman, "not the Champion."

Slowly, carefully, Hal constructed a hand to rifle through Ryou's pockets. Lady Luck must have been on his side, seeing as how he got the rings on the first attempt.

Wait... why were there more than three?

Graz and Thracer were holding the yellow and green rings. In Ryou's pocket was the red ring that was supposed to be in containment, the blue ring that Razer had used to nullify all of the rage energy, and an indigo ring of unknown origin, but if Ryou was holding it, then it might have been his.

"Well that complicates many things," Thracer handed over the yellow ring and the green ring.

"No kidding," Hal looked over each of the rings. Five rings, five similar but specialized powers right in Ryou's possession.

Not even mentioning the weaponry in the bag, Ryou was a walking armory.

"Oi."

A low growl of a voice came from Ryou's direction.

Looking over, Hal recognized the expression of irritation on Ryou's face.

"Hey bud-"

"Don't 'Hey bud' me, Harold," Ryou growled as his rings returned to him, only letting the red ring wear itself around his finger. With a simple flex, the restraints were broken, and Ryou rolled out the stiffness in his shoulders and neck. "I told you not to follow m-"

"When were you going to tell us you were alive?" Graz nearly shouted, not looking at Ryou.

Ryou froze. His constructs freaked out, trying to keep form as they rearranged his things back into the bag.

"Well?" Graz glared at the red tendrils.

"Graz, please-" Hal tried to step in.

"I have no excuse," Ryou looked down. "So I can't answer that." With barely a glance, the bag was back inside the pocket dimension of the ring, though this time it was into the red ring's.

"So never?" Graz stood, facing Ryou.

"Guys-!"

"I don't think that far ahead," crossing his arms, it seemed like Ryou was trying to keep himself together. "My mind is always racing, always trying to connect things. I don't think about my actions until after the fact and by then, it's always too late."

"If you were Galra, you'd be dead." Graz glared.

"Well I'm glad I'm not then!" Ryou's eyes turned a bright, glowing red to match his aura. Not only that, but his voice seemed to be echoing itself.

"Whoa!" Hal was finally able to step in, wondering how Batman dealt with eight kids. "Let's just calm down now."

"I am calm!" Both Graz and Ryou yelled, though in Ryou's case, it sent a shockwave of pure anger and heat into the air, knocking everyone back a few feet.

Ryou stepped back, eyes-returning to their dark gray color, were wide. "I-"

"Hey, bud, it's okay." Hal coughed, still feeling the fire. "Let's just talk abou-"

Hal's words weren't reaching Ryou. He could see it in the eyes that wherever his mind was, it was not here.

In another shockwave of heat, Ryou took to the skies.

"Ryou!" Hal followed. He was not going to lose Ryou. Not again. Not when he prctically promised he wouldn't. "Get back here!"

A flash blinded Hal as he got knocked back by a third shockwave. When he was able to look, Ryou was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter... and everything up until 14 or so... are why I question the shipping tag.

He had to get away.

He just had to get away.

No sugarcoated excuses was going to make his actions seem less of an issue.

Ryou was losing his mind and he was not going to let it hurt the people he cared about.

The red ring had enough charge for a warp and a force field, which came in handy when making a crash landing. Like a rock skipping on water, Ryou practically bounced off the ground three times before skidding to a stop, taking a few trees with him.

Breath frantic and body aching, Ryou felt the dwindling sparks of the ring fade away, his vision turned dark as he thought he saw the twisted and mangled tree branches overhead turn into ghastly hands reaching for him.

His dreams were filled with fire and screams, quickly consumed by the glittering darkness he never thought he would actually miss.

Waking up, Ryou felt a firm cushion under him. Everything hurt, each inch of muscle felt as if it had been filled with sand, and his head felt ready to explode. Propping himself upon his elbows took half of his energy for the day and made his headache a hundred times worse.

"Kill me please," he whined, flopping back onto the pillow, adding another round of pain to his headache, and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Do all members of your kind have an odd fascination with death?" A strange but familiar voice asked him. "Or is it just you?"

Moving his hands away from his face, Ryou saw a pair of bright purple eyes with yellow pupils looking down at him. He didn't know if his heart skipping a beat was from all the fatigue or...

"No matter," she looked towards something else. "A Galra pet would not understand such a concept."

Yep. His heart definitely skipped a beat from fatigue.

"Excuse you?" Ryou struggled to prop himself up again, lurching forward to sit up. "I am no one's pet."

"Could have fooled me," she replied, expression unchaning as she stirred something in a pot. "You seemed quite content being the guard dog on that swap moon."

"I was preparing myself," he explained as vaguely as he wanted.

"For what purpose?" She shot a glance to him.

Ryou growled. "I was preparing for a mission."

"What kind of mission?" She added something to the pot.

"You don't need to know that," Ryou stretched, whining again as his joints popped and his muscles flared up.

"Yes, I do." She poured out two bowls of whatever was in the pot. "So tell me what this mission of yours is."

"And if I don't?" Ryou looked down at the bowl she handed to him, some sort of brown, watery stew with bits of meat.

"Then you will be my prisoner." She calmly answered as she ate her stew. "And I will force the information out of you one way or another."

"Good luck with that," Ryou scoffed, chugging down half of the stew in one go. "I'm not easy to persuade."

"So you say," she seemed to smile as she continued eating.

Ryou growled again, chewing on the meat of the stew.

The continued to eat in silence for some time. Ryou was fiddling with his spork, picking at some annoying gunk between his teeth. He hadn't saw it before, but she had pale green marks under her eyes, similar to Varice's but softer in shape. He wondered if she had those marks the first time they met. He also saw armor peeking under the cloak and a helmet sitting off to the side.

"Why do you want to know about my mission?" He suddenly asked, feeling a bit more energy running through him now that he had a meal.

"I would explain it to you," she was operating some sort of radio-like device, "but I would prefer that you explain yourself first."

"Ugh," Ryou groaned.

"Why are you so defensive about this?" She glared at him.

"Because you're treating me like Galra scum and while I have done some bad things in my life I will not be dropped to Zarkon's level of bad," Ryou tossed the spork down. "Also, taking my ring in my sleep? Not cool."

It had taken a second to realize his red ring wasn't on his finger, but when he did notice, he was quite peeved. Without it, he had no access to the pocket dimension, where he had stashed his bag and the other rings.

"You mean this little thing?" She held up his ring, a hint of a smirk on her face. "What's so important about it?"

Ryou was not going to play this game. He was not going to play Endless Loop and be stuck here for goodness knows how long. With a growl, Ryou called his ring back, frustrated that he had let its charge fade despite it constantly hissing in his ears.

"How did you do that?" She had jumped from her seat and was brandishing her spork as a weapon. Her eyes narrowed in a glare, and it seemed she was reaching for some sort of pistol laying near the helmet.

"It does that when I'm not in the mood to play games," Ryou sighed, feeling a bit of charge. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere t-"

He was stopped by the sight of the pistol being pointed in his face.

"You will stay here and tell me everything you know." She glared with a ferocity that brought back many memories.

"I said I have somewhere to be." Ryou glared back.

"Do not make me repeat myself," she readied the pistol. Ryou could see a blue light coming from the end of the barrel but kept his eyes on her.

"Then please step aside," Ryou's voice was so low it seemed to be more guttural growling than speech.

They were at a deadlock when a small explosion rattled the area.

"What did you do!?" She screamed at him.

"Why do you assume it's me!?" He screamed back, hands up in disbelief.

She growled, turned around, and ran up the stairs, barely touching them as if she was floating. A metal door slide open with a loud screech, letting light into the room as Ryou began to realize just how small and cramped this place was.

"Stay here!" She shouted as she tried to close the door.

"Fuck that!" He shouted back, jumping up the stairs and putting his body between the door and the frame, only to get shoved down the stairs. "Damn it!" He hissed as dashed to the door, finding that he had trouble pushing it open despite his captor opening it with no trouble.

His ring hissed at him. His body must have been recovering since it was taking a lot more effort than it should to pry it open just enough to slide his body through.

Looking around, he found smoke that was too close for comfort. Racing towards it, he found her near the edge of a small crater.

"Oi!" He caught up, nearly tripping down the crater if not for her quick reflexes.

"What is that?" Her voice strained to keep itself steady.

She... looked afraid. Unsure of what to make of what she was seeing. Ryou felt unsure as well, looking at the orange light.

"S-Stay here," Ryou gently pulled her back as he stepped closer to the crater, sliding into its center. It wasn't too big, about the size of a basketball court if he had to guess.

"What's down there?" She called from the edge.

"I don't know!" He called back, keeping his eye on the orange glow. He crouched down and saw what made the crater. "Huh..." he reached for it.

"Be careful!" She yelled again.

"I am!" He yelled back. Picking up the object and felt... off. Like something was trying to weed its way into his head. He trudged his way back up, still sluggish from his own little impact. Back on top, she was there waiting for him with the pistol tight in her hand.

"Well?" She leaned closer.

Ryou held out a small orange ring.


	11. Chapter 11

There was no way a little trinket could do so much damage. If it had been bigger, such as the rude slugabed she picked up four quintents ago, it would make sense. But it was so small, there was no possible way it could have left such an impact.

She went over the details of her encounter again. Three quintents ago, a red light appeared in the sky and dropped what looked to be some sort of dark haired male that smelled of fire. He slept for two quintents and awoke shortly before the orange ring had crashed. After that, the dark haired male had begun to make himself comfortable in her post.

Withholding a growl, she checked the communication signals again. This outpost was quite far from routes and checkpoints. It made her wonder just how the secretive intruder found it.

After half a varga of listening to nothing but static, she sighed and pushed her hair away from her face.

"Should I put it on?" He asked.

"What?" She looked at him, noting the rather blank but inquisitive look on his face.

"The ring," he held up the item in question. "Should I put it on and see what effect it has?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Why would you do that?"

"I'm an engineer," he smiled. "It's my job to figure out how things work."

That smile seemed so trustworthy and kind.

"Do I have permission to shoot you if necessary?" She asked, eyeing her weapon.

He laughed softly. "Sure," he leaned back and stretched his arms. "Oh crap, I should probably tell you my name and stuff, huh?"

"If there is anyone you wish to send a message to, I will be sure to deliver it," she checked the communication line again.

"Ryou Shirogane," he said. "If it becomes necessary, I need you to find Takashi Shirogane, he'll look a lot like me. Tell him-" his red ring glowed, and he took a deep breath. "Tell him I'm sorry and I love him."

"Is this Takashi someone you're close to?" She grabbed her weapon and the cleaning tools for it from a nearby drawer.

"Very," Ryou answered, head down and eyes dark.

Ryou seemed familiar now that she thought about it. It had to be the eyes, dark and filled with so many emotions yet so indecipherable. And despite that deep darkness held little glittering lights, almost as if the night sky was in those eyes.

"And your name is...?" His voice was low and held a growl under his tone.

"Hm?" She noticed that he was looking at her oddly. "Oh!" She realized she must have been staring at him. "Romelle," she answered. "My name is Romelle."

"Romelle," he repeated, closing his eyes. "Pretty name for a pretty girl."

"I beg your pardon?" She narrowed her eyes at him, hiding a smile when his cheeks turned red and he hid hs face under his hands.

"Dammit Hal," Ryou muttered and whined. "So!" He yelled, clearing his throat. "I'm going to, um, recharge my ring, get some supplies, and hopefully not die when I put on the orange ring."

"You do that," Romelle cleaned her weapon as Ryou begun muttering to himself. She noticed that the red ring glowed brightly, seemingly hissing.

With a deep sigh, Ryou was covered in red light and his clothes were replaced by black and red armor. He reached into a small red portal and pulled out a bag. He rummaged through it, pulled out something, and put the bag under the desk.

"Romelle," his voice was low but lacked the growl from earlier. "Before you try to shoot me, take this ring, put it on, and put a stop to whatever weird or dangerous thing I'm doing."

Ryou set down a blue ring on the table.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" She picked it up and felt nothing odd, setting it aside to put her weapon back together.

"You'll know what to do when the time comes," Ryou tried to smile. "We should probably test the ring outside, just in case."

"Since when do you give orders?" She was wary of how nonchalant he was acting.

"It's not an order, it's a suggestion," Ryou corrected himself.

"Right." She raised an eyebrow and checked her weapon. "Outside."

"Yes ma'am," he removed the red ring and put it in his pocket.

Outside, amidst a small breeze that brushed the greenery, they found a small clearing at a safe distance from the bunker. Romelle made sure to keep Ryou in her sights, listening to his chatter about people he knew who seemed to be quite the band of capable fighters. There was a great risk in whatever the ring could do. Or rings, rather, considering there was a red ring, an orange ring, and a blue ring.

"Y-You will get that message to my brother if something happens," Ryou looked at her with near complete sorrow, "right?"

"You have my word," Romelle wouldn't know where to find this Takashi person, but she will try.

"Alright then." Ryou fidgeted around, muttering and taking deep breaths. "Here goes nothing."

Ryou put on the ring and was enveloped in light, recreating the armor the red ring provided in orange. Other than that and his stiff stance, there didn't seem to be anything diff-

"MINE!" He pounced at her, eyes wide and wild.

Romelle pulled the trigger, regretting that she didn't have time to properly aim beforehand. With unnatural strength, her weapon was snatched from her hand and she knocked to the ground. She heard shuffling and growling behind her.

Sliding away, she turned and saw Ryou on all fours, clutching her weapon close to his chest.

"Mine," he growled, body twitching.

"You-!" Romelle drew her short blade.

The ring glowed and from it a form much like Ryou's appeared. Tall and broad shouldered with messy hair, though the face was obscured by a mask. It charged at her with a simple staff in each hand, and Romelle found herself dueling the light.

A second form, face completely obscured and wearing attire similar to Ryou's unaltered clothing, pushed the first form away, a weapon much like her first in hand. Barely dodging the rapid fire of light, Romelle retreated to the trees where a third form, smaller and with a flowing cape, greeted her with a swing of a sword.

Surrounded by the three with a tree-and her only route to the bunker, behind her, things were not looking good.

Ryou, still unbalanced and breathing heavily, stood. "Mine," he smirked.

The three orange forms stepped back, weapons still in hand.

"Your...?" She didn't understand what he was talking about. Based on observation alone, the orange ring seemed to alter the wearer's mind to be far more avaricious than usual. That would explain his sudden want for her weapon when he had been eyeing it with little interest only a few dobashes ago.

Three more forms appeared, two had feminine shapes and all three wore capes and masks.

Romelle snarled, readying her blade again. Luckily for her, these three had similar fighting tactics. Besides the second, who utilized ranged weapons, all of them preferred quick hand to hand combat, deflecting or dodging each blow and trying to use Romelle's momentum against her.

A loud growl surprised her. Even more so, each of the orange light forms froze where they stood, glitching in a manner similar to digital programs.

"H-" Ryou groaned, clutching his abdomen. "Hun...gry..." Ryou collapsed and the light forms all vanished.

Taking a few ticks to comprehend what just happened, Romelle sighed and grabbed Ryou by his ankle, dragging him back to the bunker.

"Ow," he whined as his head and back scratched against the dirt and rocks and thumped against each step as she dragged him down the stairs. 

She slumped down in her chair and rubbed her temples, her eyes catching the faint glows of the red and blue rings.

"Want... want...." Ryou continued groaning.

"Hush up," Romelle kicked him in the side.

She grabbed the red ring and wondered about the rumors she had heard.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY! Laptop got busted and I'm sneaking onto my sister's to copy paste the next chapter from tumblr. Don't know when I'm getting the new laptop, but I am hoping I can get all my documents(and pictures!) from the old one because you will not believe how far ahead I was.
> 
> If you've forgotten already, this was written pre Season 6 so this Romelle is still my fanon version. I have ideas so don't worry. It's just gonna take a while. A long while.
> 
> A looong while.

When Ryou woke up, he noticed he was back inside the bunker and everything hurt. Romelle had fallen asleep at her table, fiddling with the radio and the rings. Strangely enough, in his hands was her pistol.

With a groan of pain, Ryou put Romelle in bed and sat at the table, picking up the orange ring from the floor. He had no memory of what it did and wouldn’t be able to ask his only witness for some time. Putting it on again, he felt something try to reach into him.

He felt… unfulfilled. He wanted… things. All the things. He wanted his family. He wanted his friends. He wanted more friends. More family.

He wanted to see Takashi.

The ring flashed and flew off his finger, hitting the wall and tossing him back a few feet.

“Ow,” he whined, picking himself back up, grabbing his bag from under the table. He left the blue ring out, and stashed away the red and orange rings. He felt something peculiar in the little pocket though.

Emptying the pocket, Ryou counted the rings. Green, red, blue, indigo, orange, and yellow.

Why did he have a yellow ring? When did he get it? He could barely remember anything between the pirates, seeing Hal, running from Hal, and putting on the orange ring. His body was shaking, from his legs and hands to his breath. It wasn’t okay. It was far from okay. He knew that the last time he had such a case of gaps in his memory, the cause was overwork and grief. Bruce even banned him from the Batcave for a month.

At least, he thought it was a month. In that time, he remembered talking to Steph a lot and it was quite a collection of conversations. Food, their pets, daily news, school, work. They even had a few philosophical discussions about morality, compassion, and whether art should always have some deep meaning or simply exist for art’s sake.

But all of those conversations were archived. All of them had a place in time that he could remember, even if it was vague. But now? What filled the gaps? What was there to add context to the situations he awoke to? What could he rely on?

That horse.

That Thestral-looking, demonic pegasus that followed Tala around.

Why he focused on that little detail was beyond him, but he remembered seeing it in the corner of his eye when he was with Hal, Graz, and Thracer.

That horse, Wrava, had been resting by Hal. Quiet, blending into the background as it would seem, minding its own business. If it was there and not with Tala, and Hal had been restraining Ryou and looking through his things-

No.

No no no no no.

Ryou didn’t… did he?

He hadn’t hurt Hal or Graz or Thracer right? And Tala? Tala’s crew? He didn’t agree with them but was stealing their team pet really his best option? Were they even alive?

Bile, normal wretched bile, crept up his throat. Thank the heavens for the trash can nearby.

His head was spinning way too much to think clearly. Grabbing his bag and his rings, Ryou stood and headed to the stairs. He looked at the blue ring and left it on the table.

The door was wide open, letting a chilling breeze creep in as he walked up the stairs. He tried to close the door, hissing with every screech it made and the only thing he had to use that would remotely help was the pepper spray and even then, it wasn’t going to do much. He did get the door closed, eventually.

Ryou looked back to the rest of rings, focusing on the green one.

Put it on, Hal knows his location and drags him back to Batman.

Keep it off, he becomes dependent on other rings for transportation and life support.

How had its meaning changed so much is so little time? Just weeks ago, he was begging to see a Green Lantern again, and now he’s actively avoiding them. Why? What was this proving? That he could handle the trauma? The stress of constantly being just out of Death’s reach?

He sank to his feet with his back against the door, only now realized that he was still inside.

No more.

He couldn’t do this anymore.

It hurt. It sucked. It was just one, long, disastrous, no good, everything that could go wrong did type of bad day and he wanted it to end.

A loud snort caught his attention.

The source was, surprisingly, Romelle.

While he didn’t really understand what she was trying to accomplish, she had a mission of her own, and he was just getting in the way like this.

Maybe it’d be better if he-

Romelle suddenly sat up, eyes glassy and unfocused.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she murmured.

“Eh?” Ryou blanked out for a second, giving Romelle enough time to flop back into sleep. “Eh?” His voice seemed to whine as he tried to process what was happening.

The existential crisis and sudden compliment was all he could think of.

And the static coming from the radio.

The metal of the box clanked softly as each tool took the radio apart. Screws, wires, buttons, dials. All were scattered on the table with seemingly little care. As he put it back together, he tried to find broken pieces. It was a wonder as to how long it had been working with so many chipped and rusting parts.

His first attempt wasn’t a guarantee fix. A little mistake was made, nothing he couldn’t handle.

Second attempt was a little better, but there was still an annoying click in the audio.

Third attempt was far better. All the static had been chalked up to the radio trying to find a signal, most of which were Galra regulated frequencies. Other channels, all noted in Romelle’s journal, were rebel controlled and not often used.

He sighed, glad that the radio was operating as it should.

Then the stove made a weird noise.

And so did the oven.

Same for the shower.

……

…………

“What did you do?” Romelle had awoken to a polished room and a less than polished guest.

“I fixed it,” Ryou, covered in grime from head to toe, was staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Fixed… what?” She asked, noticing that even her bed’s frame had been improved.

“Everything.” Ryou’s voice was a shaking growl.

“Why?” Her own voice shook at the absurdity. He had all this time to escape yet he spent it doing maintenance?

“Because I’ve lost all control of my life due to a combination of poorly made decisions and plain bad luck, resulting in disaster and despair for myself and everyone around me. Repairing things is the only relief that I have of this ever spiraling chaos called existence since it allows me to have some semblance of agency and choice.” Ryou’s expression did not change as he answered.

“That’s…” Romelle didn’t even know where to begin on that response, “something.”

“Yep.” Ryou replied.

He looked so upset, even with that focused gaze on nothing. Every hope dashed, every smile faded, every dream crushed. What kind of life had he lived to be reduced to this level of misery? Besides the life of a gladiator and living weapon, of course. She could only imagine the horrors he’s been faced with up until now.

“I’m going to make breakfast,” she said, smoothing out her hair.

“Okay.” His voice was so small, it was almost heartbreaking.


End file.
